Big Tron Viral News, Including a Space Paranoids Countdown
All Tron Legacy fans must tune in! There was a huge update on the viral front today, with some brillaint pieces to the puzzles, and an impressive countdown clock for the debut of Space Paranoids online. It’s a hefty update and it took a while to figure out, but it looks like we’ve discovered all the latest there is. But now we know that Space Paranoids is only 7 days away from debuting playable online (thanks to Encom), and it also looks like Sam Flynn is a globetrotter who just so happens to be in Brazil training in capoeira (to help him ride lightcycles maybe?). Read on for the latest updates in the Tron Legacy viral and much more!
An update hit on FlynnLives.com first linking to some message boards posts, including one about tracking down Sam Flynn and keeping in touch with him (he’s finally recognizing the Flynn Lives group). So where is he? Well, one of the posts links to an article that mentions that he went to Wellminster Academy. Visit the website for that school and search for him to discover that he’s into the Brazilian martial arts/music/dance technique of capoeira. Somehow, the Unfiction forum guys figured out that he was in Brazil and discovered another viral site located at amazoncapoeira.com.br that’s fully written in actual Brazilian Portuguese.
Search around that site and you’ll find mention that Sam may be in Rio Fiamente in Brazil, and if you put that location into a special Sam Tracker search box, it links directly to the next big part of this viral game: UnlockSamFlynn.com. I hope everyone is following all this, because it was quite a task to figure all this out without much help! Found on the UnlockSamFlynn.com site is a quick intro video and a locker with a combo lock on it. Ah crap, even more puzzles to solve, so how the heck do we figure out the combo? Well, that’s an even tougher task, so keep on reading to find out how that locker (as seen below) was opened up.
If you remember, a few months ago, Encom sent our employee badges to a lot of people around the world which would link and login to an “employee intranet” website on an Encom site that has an email box and lots more important info. Well, found in there was a link to mcclaskeyairstrip.com, who seems to work with Encom a lot. From there it links to a parachute manufacturer (who made Sam’s chute when he jumped out over the crowd in San Francisco) which eventually leads to a shipping site called Dumont Shipping, who again works with Encom. Plugin your Encom employee ID number from the badge there and you’ll find out that there was a shipment to Brazil right after the San Fran event and found there is the combo: 27-38-24.
Inside of the locker are a few important things and cool little geeky nods that should make Tron fans happy. There is a personalized video from Sam Flynn addressing the Flynn Lives supporters (that’s us!) and some photos of him training. There’s also an Encom badge that links to their website and a “Digital Gaming” book written by Sam’s dad Kevin Flynn. If you check out that book, and that classic 1988 photo of Sam at a Tron arcade machine, you’ll find some underlined text that when spelled out links to the special Space Paranoids countdown clock that you see below. Oh and there’s an MP3 player at the bottom with some Daft Punk on it, which is unquestionably a fun little nod to their involvement in this sequel (but they’re all older tracks).
And that, finally, takes us to the countdown clock: encominternational.com/spaceparanoidsonline/. If you haven’t already seen the teaser trailer for the game, check it out here. It looks like this expires in the afternoon on May 6th (if my math is correct), so that will be the official online debut of that playable game. If you have a Flynn Lives account, you can get an achievement by killing 99 of the interceptors floating by. Other than that, I encourage everyone to check out all the sites and let us know if you find anything hidden on them. See you next week for some Space Paranoids fun! And thanks to Unfiction for solving most of this.
Discover More: Hype, Tron Legacy, Viral News
Watch This: Crazy Japanese Teaser Trailer for The Expendables
Short ‘n sweet, but totally badass! Thanks to AICN, you can check out a new Japanese teaser trailer for Sly Stallone’s The Expendables via the official Japanese website. This trailer totally kicks ass because it’s just 30 seconds of madness and mayhem. And somehow in that 30 seconds, they shows us every last character in this (including the Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger cameos). We haven’t seen any other footage besides the very first official US trailer back in March, so although this doesn’t have a lot of new footage, it’s still awesome to see. Thanks to our poll on Facebook, I know a lot of people are excited for this, so fire it up!
Watch the Japanese teaser trailer for Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables:
The story follows a team of mercenaries who head to South America on a mission to overthrow a dictator.
The Expendables is both written and directed by legendary action actor and filmmaker Sylvester Stallone, who has also directed Paradise Alley, Rocky 2, 3, and 4, as well as the most recent Rambo movie. This is a Nu Image / Millennium Films production developed by Avi Lerner and Les Weldon. Lionsgate is bringing The Expendables to theaters starting on August 20th, 2010 later this year. We first featured a trailer for this back in October of last year but it got pulled, then the official trailer debuted in March. Still excited?
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Wes Craven Talks Scream 4 + Old/New Teaser Poster Revealed
It’s been a long time coming, but Scream 4 is now on the way, not only with original cast Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and David Arquette, but master of horror Wes Craven is returning to the director’s chair for the Ghostface killer sequel. Entertainment Weekly has just released the first official teaser poster for this, though it isn’t much different from a poster that showed up at American Film Market late last year, and sat down with Craven who couldn’t reveal too much about his return to the franchise, but he did delve a little deeper into where we’ll find our damsel in distress, Sidney Prescott, in the fourth go-round in this series.
I wish this poster was higher res than it is, but that’s the biggest size EW provided, so this is all we’ve got!
In Scream 4, the state of the horror genre within the film has been plagued with endless Stab sequels (the film series within the film based on the Woodsboro murders) which should provide some familiar tongue-in-cheek fun. Meanwhile, Craven says Sidney has “been off by herself and living her own life, and she’s even written a book that has gotten a lot of critical acclaim. She’s kind of put her life back together in the course of these 10 years. But, certainly, there would be no Scream without Ghostface, so she has to confront him again, but now as a woman who has really come out the darkness of her past.” We have yet to see anything else for this, but with an April 15th, 2011 release, I’m sure it won’t take long. Head to EW.com for more!
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Fox Pumps Schwarzenegger Well With a Commando Remake
They already have a throwback to an action-packed Arnold Schwarzenegger with this summer’s Predators, a new chapter of sorts following the original spawning of the bloodthirsty Predator from ‘87, so why not dig a little deeper for a remake of another Schwarzenegger vehicle? Deadline reports Fox is developing a remake of Commando, the 1985 shoot-first-ask-questions-later action movie which followed a retired elite special forces op whose daughter is kidnapped and threatened unless he gets on a plane and kills the rival of a nasty dictator. David Ayer, who wrote Training Day and directed Street Kings, is both writing and directing this.
Ayer, a former Navy soldier himself, is putting a real-world spin on the original premise (oh come on, it was cheesy 80’s action!) by making the protagonist less of a “meat head” and more skilled in covert tactics and weaponry. By stripping down the hero though, it almost makes the flick less of a fun ride, and more like the rest of the espionage focused Jason Bourne copycats out there. But at the same time, we don’t want a carbon copy of the original, so really I think this remake just shouldn’t happen along with a bunch of other remakes that should be shit-canned too. There’s gotta be an original script out there with the same spirit of what the Commando remake would be without having to bank on Schwarzenegger’s previous work as an action star.
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J.J. Abrams Will Next Pay Tribute & Collaborate with Spielberg
Since rocking most of our worlds with last years Star Trek franchise reboot, we’ve all been waiting to hear what J.J. Abrams will take on as his next project. We know he won’t be taking on Mission Impossible 4, but interestingly it looks like his next project may end up being a simultaneous tribute to and collaboration with another big name director who just can’t seem to choose his next project either: Steven Spielberg. Vulture reports that Abrams is just now finishing a screenplay described as “a tip of the hat to [Spielberg's] movies of the 70’s and early 80’s,” and Abrams plans to direct the movie himself for Paramount Pictures.
Like any other Abrams project, details on the plot are being kept under wraps, but like many of Spielberg’s most iconic films including Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and E.T., the project will “deal with everyday people whose personal relationships are tested when they are thrown up against extraordinarily fantastic, and possibly other-worldly, events.” Abrams has already been talking with Spielberg about the project and aside from being a source of inspiration for the flick, he’ll also be involved in some capacity (e.g. an executive producer or adviser). Their sources say: “J.J. wants to make sure Steven is properly paid homage to. This is really an interpretation of some of Spielberg’s earlier films, but done in a personal way.”
It sounds like Abrams is going to make the same movie that many of use who grew up with Spielberg’s work have always wanted to make. Much like the Abrams produced Cloverfield, the film is keeping its title under wraps for maximal marketing impact and will also be a fairly low budget venture for a studio movie. Just to be safe, take this news with a grain of salt since both Paramount and DreamWorks denied existence of the project (would we expect anything else?), but since Vulture has been notoriously reliable recently, I’d expect to hear something on this project sooner than later. We’ll let you know if we hear anything else! Thoughts?
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This Week on Netflix Instant: Serpico, Machinist, Delgo & More
This week’s Netflix Instant brings a combination of unique films, but this installment pales in comparison to the amount of programming from Viacom (including networks like MTV & Comedy Central). Though we don’t focus on TV, keep your eye out for major series additions like “The State,” “Beavis & Butt-Head,” and “Reno 911,” not to mention stand-up from comedians like Demetri Martin, Patton Oswalt, John Oliver, and many more. On the film front, our picks include a dangerously skinny Christian Bale, a great coming-of-age flick from Barry Levinson, and a film with the very worst opening ever. So what’s in our queue this week?
Note: All titles below are not available as of today, but will be soon. Refer to the availability next to each.
Liberty Heights (Available April 30th):
In this fantastic coming-of-age story, director Barry Levinson (Rain Man, Good Morning Vietnam) returns to the roots of his earlier films like Diner, throwing a group of growing teenagers into 1954 Baltimore where anti-Semitism and racism is the norm, and Jews and “coloreds” aren’t allowed in the public pool just like dogs. Jewish teen Ben Kurtzman (Ben Foster) and his older brother Van (Adrien Brody) are exploring the other side of the fence. In Ben’s case, it’s friendship (or more) with Sylvia, a cute African American girl and with Van, it’s a party in the WASP part of town and falling for a debutante named Dubbie. Levinson just doesn’t make them like this anymore.
Delgo (Available April 30th):
The only reason to see this film is because it’s nearly the exact opposite of, and yet, maybe the same as, the recently crowned highest grossing film of all-time Avatar. Not only did the film receive the honor of becoming the worst wide release opening ever, but there was talk of the creators of the film potentially suing the creators of Avatar because of the visual similarities the two films share. However when the story follows Delgo, a young dreamer who must both prove his innocence and persuade the two warring tribes to unite and save the princess from their common enemy, the similarities seem to end. Or do they? See for yourself if you dare.
Murder on the Orient Express (Available May 1st):
A Sidney Lumet directed motion picture classic is found in this murder mystery that saw Academy Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay, as well as Best Actor (Albert Finney) and Best Actress (Ingrid Bergman). Even more big names like Sean Connery, Lauren Bacall, Vanessa Redgrave and others fill out this whodunit which follows Investigator Hercule Poirot (Finney) heading home aboard the Orient Express when a fellow passenger, American businessman Samuel Ratchett (Richard Widmark), is found murdered. See if you can solve the mystery.
Serpico (Available May 1st):
If you’ve seen Garden State, then you know being a struggling actor who returns home is inexplicably compared to Serpico. But Zach Braff’s character would have a lot to live up to as Al Pacino’s performance is considered to be one of his career’s best in the second film directed by Sidney Lumet in this week’s installment. This is the real-life story of New York City undercover cop Frank Serpico, an honest man who was grievously wounded for refusing to take part in the corruption forced upon him by his peers. Both Pacino and the adapted screenplay were nominated for Academy Awards.
Funny Games (Available May 1st):
Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke remakes his own 1997 German-language film of the same name for another sadistic and violent story that follows Anna (Naomi Watts) and George (Tim Roth) enjoying a vacation with their son when two sadistic young men (Michael Pitt and Brady Corbet) break into their cabin and hold the family hostage. The psychotic duo plays twisted games with their prisoners, forcing them to comply to stay alive. The result isn’t quite as impressive as the original, but the fact that Haneke creatd a nearly word-for-word and shot-for-shot remake of his own film certainly has to be some sort of an accomplishment.
The Machinist (Available May 1st):
Sure Christian Bale looks ripped and buff for Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, but just before he became the infamous vigilante, Bale lost an amazing 63 lbs. reducing his weight to a mere 121 lbs. to play Trevor Reznik a man who hasn’t slept in a year, and and whose physical and mental health have eroded. Cryptic notes pop up in his apartment and he has visions of a co-worker nobody else can see, and he has to figure out whether this mystery is in his insomniac head, or if they are all too real. After this role, Bale put on 100 lbs. to become Batman. That’s some serious dedication to his craft.
Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (Available May 1st):
Of course everyone knows the infamous miscommunication comedy short that is Who’s on First? but the dynamic comedy duo of Abbott & Costello also faced off with some of the most iconic movie monsters in cinema’s history. In this flick, the bumbling buddies are railroad baggage clerks who receive a strange shipment: the last remains of Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster., and they’re still alive. When the monsters escape to a remote island, Abbott and Costello follow their trail and find not only the two ghouls, but also a mad scientist who wants to switch Costello’s brain with that of Frankenstein’s monster. This is classic goofy comedy.
That’s all for this week’s installment of new Netflix Instant titles and other free movies to check out online. And remember, if you ever want to look back at titles already released, look forward to movies on the way, or check out the entire library of Netflix Instant titles, you can head over to InstantWatcher (in my opinion the most complete listing of Netflix’s instant titles, updated daily) or also FeedFliks, whose hawk-eyes are on the lookout for future streaming release dates. And of course we’ll also be back next week with the latest line-up of new Netflix titles. Now go watch some movies! Are you satisfied with this week’s new selection?
Discover More: Editorials, Netflix Instant
In addition to that new poster earlier today, Disney has debuted a brand new internet-only (as in, you won’t see it anywhere else) trailer for Pixar’s Toy Story 3, which features a bit more action and a fun little “on the run” concept to it. We’ve seen quite a few trailers for this sequel already (one in November, another in February) and they’re getting better every time. Although I know what happens in the movie, they’re doing a very good job of covering up the actual story, which I think is great to experience in theaters, so I definitely won’t be spoiling it. I’ve said enough already, so do yourself a favor and just watch this new trailer. Enjoy!
Watch the new internet-only trailer for Pixar’s Toy Story 3:
You can also watch the internet only Toy Story 3 trailer in High Definition here: 480, 720, 1080
Woody, Buzz, and the rest of their toy-box friends are all dumped in a day-care center after their owner, Andy, departs for college. Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, and John Ratzenberger will all be back.
Toy Story 3 is being directed by Lee Unkrich, another one of Pixar’s creative masterminds who previously co-directed Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., and Finding Nemo. The screenplay was written by Michael Arndt, the Oscar winning screenwriter of Little Miss Sunshine who is a newcomer to the Pixar family. Disney will be bringing Pixar’s Toy Story 3 to theaters everywhere in both 2D & 3D starting on June 18th in summer.
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